Daily Devotional

Scripture Readings

Paschalion — Movable Calendar

Wednesday of the Twenty-Fifth Week

Epistle

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians [§ 275].

2 ¹Brethren, we beseech you with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together before Him, ²in order that ye be not quickly shaken from your reason, nor to be stirred—neither by a spirit, nor by a word, nor by an epistle as if by us—as if the day of Christ hath arrived. ³Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day shall not come unless the apostasy should come first, and the man of the sin be revealed, the son of the perdition, ⁴who opposeth and exalteth himself above all which is called God or an object of worship, so as for him to sit in the temple of God as God, showing himself that he is God. ⁵Do ye not remember that when I was yet with you I was telling you these things? ⁶And now ye know that which restraineth, in order that he be revealed in his own time. ⁷For the mystery of the lawlessness already is energizing itself, only there is the one who restraineth now, until he should come to be taken out of the midst. ⁸And then the lawless one shall be revealed—whom the Lord shall destroy by the breath of His mouth, and shall bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming— ⁹whose coming is according to the energy of Satan in all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰and in all deceit of the unrighteousness in those who are perishing, because they received not the love of the truth, in order for them to be saved. ¹¹And on this account God shall send to them an influence of error for them to believe the lie, ¹²that they all might be judged who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in the unrighteousness.

Gospel

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke [§§ 90, mid 91]. At that time:

18 ¹⁵They were bringing to Jesus also the infants, in order that He may be touching them; but after the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. ¹⁶But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “Let alone the little children to come to Me, and cease hindering them; for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁷“Verily I say to you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child in no wise shall enter into it.”...

²⁶And they who heard it said, “And who is able to be saved?” ²⁷And He said, “The things impossible with men are possible with God.” ²⁸And Peter said, “Behold, we left all and followed Thee.” ²⁹And He said to them, “Verily I say to you, that there is no one who left house or parents or brethren or wife or children on account of the kingdom of God, ³⁰“who shall not receive many times more, in this present time, and in the age that is coming life everlasting.”

Menaion — Fixed Calendar

The commemoration of the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Entrance of the Virgin Mary into the Temple. The commemoration of the Great-martyr Katherine and the Great-martyr Mercurios (commemorated on Sl. calendar on the 24^th of November). The commemoration of the holy Equal-to-the-apostles Clement, Archbishop of Okhrid, Enlightener of the Slavs and Wonder-worker of Bulgaria.

Epistle

For the Great-martyrs:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians [§§ 208, 209]. Brethren:

3 ²³Before faith came, we were being guarded under the law, having been closed up to the faith about to be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the law hath become our tutor until Christ, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But faith having come, we are no longer under a tutor. ²⁶For all are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷For as many as were baptized into Christ, ye put on Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to promise.

4 ¹Now I say, as long as the heir is an infant, he differeth nothing from a slave, though he is lord of all; ²but he is under guardians and stewards until the appointed time of the father. ³So we also, when we were infants, were enslaved under the elements of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive what is our due, the adoption as sons.

For Sl. usage, see [Eph. 6:10-17].

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Hebrews [§ 318]. Brethren:

7 ²⁶Such a High Priest was fitting for us: holy, guileless, undefiled, Who hath been separated from the sinners and hath become higher than the heavens, ²⁷Who hath no need daily, even as the high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once for all after He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appointeth men high priests who have weakness; but the word of the oath, which is after the law, appointeth the Son, Who hath been perfected forever.

8 ¹Now in reference to the things being spoken of, the chief point is: We have such a High Priest, Who sat down on the right of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ²a Liturgist of the holies and of the tabernacle, the true one, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Gospel

For the Great-martyr:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark [§ 21]. At that time:

5 ²⁴A great crowd was following Jesus and pressing upon Him. ²⁵And a certain woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years— ²⁶and who suffered much under many physicians and spent all from her own means, and was not profited at all, but rather came to be the worse for it— ²⁷after she heard about Jesus, came in the crowd behind, and touched His garment; ²⁸for she was saying within herself, “If I might but touch His garments, I shall be made well.” ²⁹And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she knew in her body that she had been healed from the scourge. ³⁰And Jesus, straightway having fully known in Himself that the power from Him went forth, turned around in the crowd and was saying, “Who touched Me on My garments?” ³¹And His disciples were saying to Him, “Thou seest the crowd pressing on Thee, and sayest Thou, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³²And He kept looking around Himself to see her who had done this. ³³And the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing that which had been done for her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. ³⁴And He said to her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee well; go in peace, and be sound in body from thy scourge.”

for Sl. usage, see [Lk. 21:12-19].

For the Hierarch:

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 11]. The Lord said to His disciples:

5 ¹⁴“Ye are the light of the world. A city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid. ¹⁵“Nor do they light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it giveth light to all those in the house. ¹⁶“Thus, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works, and might glorify your Father Who is in the heavens.

¹⁷“Do not begin to think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I came not to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸“For verily I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall have passed away, one iota or one tittle in no wise shall pass away from the law, until all shall have taken place. ¹⁹“Whosoever then shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”

Lives of the Saints (Prologue)

December 8th – Civil Calendar
November 25th – Church Calendar

1. The Holy and Great Martyr Katherine.

The daughter of King Constus, she lived with her mother in Alexandria after her father’s death. Her mother was secretly a Christian, and through her spiritual father, brought Katherine to the Christian Faith. In a vision, St. Katherine received a ring from the Lord Jesus Himself as a sign of her betrothal to Him. This ring remains on her finger to this day. Katherine was greatly gifted by God, exceptionally well-educated in Greek philosophy, medicine, rhetoric and logic, and added great physical beauty to this. When the wicked Emperor Maxentius offered sacrifice to idols and ordered everyone to do the same, St. Katherine came with daring before him and denounced his idolatrous errors. The emperor, seeing that she surpassed him in wisdom and learning, summoned 150 of the wisest men, to dispute with her about faith and put her to shame, but Katherine was wiser than they, and put them to shame. The furious emperor commanded that all 150 wise men be burned. These wise men, at St. Katherine’s prayers, all confessed the name of Christ at the moment of death, and proclaimed themselves Christians. When the martyr was in prison, she brought Porphyrius the general, with two hundred of his soldiers, to the Faith, and also the empress, Augusta-Vasilissa. They all suffered for Christ. At St. Katherine’s martyrdom, an angel of God appeared to her, stopping and breaking the wheel on which she was being tortured, and after that the Lord Christ Himself appeared to her, strengthening her. After many tortures, Katherine was beheaded with the sword at the age of eighteen, on November 25th, 310. Milk flowed from her body in place of blood. Her wonder-working relics are preserved on Sinai.

FOR CONSIDERATION

Many learned pagans have come into the Church of Christ and received Baptism because the Church preaches immortal life as an established fact and not as some conjecture of man’s understanding. St. Clement of Rome studied the whole of Greek philosophy, and his soul remained empty and unsatisfied. As a young man of twenty-four, he desired with his whole soul to discover if there was another, better life than this. Philosophy had given him the thinking of various people, but no certain proof. He mourned for his lost parents and brothers, and constantly tormented himself with the question: Would he see them again in another life? The all-seeing God so guided him that he met a man who spoke to him of the Christians and their belief in life beyond the grave. This roused the young Clement to set off at once from Rome for Judea, that he might, there in the very cradle of the Christian Faith, come to positive knowledge concerning life beyond the grave. When he heard the preaching of the Apostle Peter, based entirely on Christ risen from the dead, Clement scorned all the conjecture of philosophy and sincerely embraced the Christian Faith, receiving Baptism and giving himself utterly to the service of the Church of God. As then, so today: he who has a firm faith in the risen Christ and a clear certainty of life beyond the grave will endeavor to fulfill all of God’s commandments.

Daily Scripture Readings taken from The Orthodox New Testament, translated and published by Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado, copyright © 2000, used with permission, all rights reserved.

Daily Prologue Readings taken from The Prologue of Ochrid, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, translated by Mother Maria, published by Lazarica Press, Birmingham, England, copyright © 1985, all rights reserved. Edited by Dormition Skete.